The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Politics Modern political organizations are run by children. I’m sure of it. The outgoing California Democratic Party Chairman was John Burton. At the CADEM17 Convention, Burton called the deaf interpreters up on stage with him and thanked them. Immediately, Burton flipped his middle finger in the air and yelled “F*** Donald Trump”. What was more disturbing was all the people who readily joined in with him. o o o A slow …




The Editors’ Quote Of The Day

“But the truth is that if you shoot the .50 through a vehicle’s engine block, you’re not actually going to stop the vehicle. Not right away. The fluids will leak out and eventually it will stop moving. But it’s not instant by any means. A .338 [Lapua] and even a .300 [Winchester Magnum] will do the same thing. No, the best way to stop a vehicle is to shoot the driver. And that you can do with a number of weapons.” – Chris Kyle, American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History




Notes for Monday – May 22, 2017

May 22, 1859 is the birthday of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, where he met Dr. Joseph Bell, a teacher with extraordinary deductive reasoning power. Bell partly inspired Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes years later. After medical school, Doyle moved to London, where his slow medical practice left him ample free time to write. His first Sherlock Holmes story, A Study in Scarlet, was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual in 1887. Starting in 1891, a series of Holmes stories appeared in The Strand magazine. …




IndestructiBELT, by Pat Cascio

IndestructiBELT- Thin, Stiff, and Comfortable The folks at IndestructiBELT recently contacted SurvivalBlog and wanted me to test one of their belts. In short order, one was in my hands. Needless to say, when a company calls their belts “indestructible”, I just assume to take it with a grain of salt. Everyone hypes their products. We all know this. So, I put this belt to the test. As this is written, I’ve been wearing this belt daily for a month now, and I’m more than a little impressed with it. First off, the belt is thin, but it is stiff. However, …




The Editors’ Preps for the Week of May 22nd, 2017

To be prepared for a crisis, every prepper must establish goals and make long-term and short-term plans. Steadily we work on meeting our prepping goals. In this column, the SurvivalBlog editors will share their planned prep activities for the coming week, ranging from healthcare and purchases to property improvements and food storage. We also welcome you to share your planned activities for increasing personal preparedness in the coming week in the comments. Let’s keep busy and be ready! JWR Hello SurvivalBlog Readers, This coming week’s weather in the American Redoubt is forecast for lovely: sunny and warm weather. We so …




Economics & Investing for Preppers

Here are the latest items and commentary on current economics news, market trends, stocks, investing opportunities, and the precious metals markets. We also cover hedges, derivatives, and obscura. And it bears mention that most of these items are from the quirky “tangibles heavy” contrarian perspective of JWR. (SurvivalBlog’s Founder and Senior Editor): Precious Metals: First, over at Gold-Eagle, here is some commentary by Jack Chan: Gold Price Update. o o o Reuters reports: Platinum to see first market surplus in six years in 2017: JM Commodities Economics: And over at Bloomberg: U.S. Shale Roars Back at OPEC. (Caution: This has …







Preparedness Notes for Sunday – May 21, 2017

Don’t forget that Round 70 of SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest is almost here. We have need of a few good articles, too. If you have been putting off writing your article or have just been kicking around an idea of writing one, now is your chance to get it in. Also, if you’ve recently accomplished some major prepping or survival goal and would like to share that experience with others, this is your chance. Finally, just take a look at these fantastic prizes that you can be eligible for! SurvivalBlog Writing Contest The nearly $11,000 worth of prizes for this …




Building Or Purchasing Your New Country Property – Part 2, by S.T.

After our move across the country and decision to purchase rather than build our new country property, we had some work ahead of us. Our home was more than 30 years old and needed considerable work. In this section of the article, we continue to review the improvements made and plans for the future. Year 3 Property Improvements (cont.) New Flooring and Wall Storage The floor was updated and unused space appropriated. The original lino floors were replaced with new tile floors. The back wall of the kitchen had not been used. I installed four open shelves with the bottom …




Letter: Hybrid or Electric UTV?

HJL and JWR, After conducting Internet research with mixed results, I’m reaching out to the Survival Blog community. Does anyone have experience with electric UTVs, either hybrid gas/electric or all electric? For obvious reasons, the ability to quietly and quickly access remote areas of the homestead has definite advantages. There seem to be multiple choices in all-electric UTVs and hybrids. I should mention that I currently do not have an ATV or UTV at this time. My partially wooded homestead of 50 acres has elevation differences of over 200 feet. Many areas are easily accessible with a conventional 4×4.




The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods:

SurvivalBlog presents another edition of The Survivalist’s Odds ‘n Sods – a collection of news bits and pieces that are relevant to the modern survivalist and prepper from “HJL”. Israel Jerusalem Day is a national holiday in Israel that celebrates the country’s reunification of Jerusalem following the Six Day War of 1967. This year, it is celebrated on Tuesday May 23, and President Trump will be in the city for it. One of President Trump’s campaign promises was that he would move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All other U.S. Embassies are in each nation’s capitals, and …




Editors’ Quote of the Day:

“Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 (KJV)







Building Or Purchasing Your New Country Property – Part 1, by S.T.

Our Journey We left the Peoples Republic of Kommiefornia in 2013 for the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains with a list of the minimum requirements for our new county property. After making this journey of more than 2,300 miles to start the second half of our lives, we opted to purchase a home rather than build one. Our decision was mainly due to time issues and the discovery of a house within one mile and on the same country road that my aging father and step-mother lived on. What we left: 3 bedrooms 2 baths 1400 sq. ft. California city …




Editors’ Prepping Progress

Prepping Progress As preppers work to make progress to achieve prepping goals, we took some actions this week too. The SurvivalBlog editors made some plans earlier in the week and now reflect upon these. Below, the editors share what we each accomplished. Please write to us in the comments and tell us what you did this week to get your preps in place and to be ready. JWR Hello SurvivalBlog Readers. This week the weather at the Rawles Ranch was cold and rainy. We even broke down and built a fire in the wood stove to take the edge off …